Health Psychology
Exam 1 Study Guide
Introduction
1. What is health?
Absence of disease
Ability to physically perform daily functions
2. What is the biomedical model? How does it explain health? What are its characteristics?
Biomedical Model – all illness can be explained on the basis of abnormal somatic processes
Unable to fully account for health – only physical problem can be identified
Focus on physical factors that affect diseases
• Mechanistic – focus on specific parts
• Reductionistic – reduces illness to low-level processes
• Dualistic – views psychological health as separate from physical health
3. What is the biopsychosocial model? How does it explain health?
Health is more than just biological factors (biomedical model) – biopsychosocial model adds psychological and
social factors
Focuses more on health and health promotion/prevention
Health is influenced by:
Biological factors
Psychological factors – thoughts, behaviors
Social factors – relationships with people and people who provide medical care to us
4. How have the major health problems in the U.S. changed since the beginning of the 20th century?
Major causes of death:
Acute infectious diseases
Chronic Conditions
5. How significant is the role of health behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, poor diet/physical inactivity) in current major
health problems in the U.S.?
Tobacco – 15%
Poor diet/physical inactivity – 18%
Alcohol consumption – 3%
Microbial agents – 2%
Medical error – 3%
Toxic agents – 2.5%
Motor vehicle – 1%
Firearms – 1.5%
Sexual behavior – 1%
Illicit drug use – 1%
Other – 51.8%
Research Methods
6. What are operational definitions?
Statement about the procedures the researcher used to measure a variable (to measure and manipulate a variable)
7. What is ecological validity? What are mundane and experimental realism?
Ecological validity - the extent to which the findings of a research study are able to be generalized to real-life
settings
Mundane realism – closeness of experimental situation to real life
how much the situation in the lab relates to situations that would happen in real life
Experimental realism – extent to which experimental situation involves and engages participants
Actually experience what the study is trying to
Both are trade-offs
High mundane realism, low experimental realism
Hard to create a completely controlled environment that also occurs in real life
8. What are the survey, case study, observational, and archival methods? What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each (e.g., response options)?
, Survey – asking people questions about their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions
Advantages: efficient & can measure constructs that are not directly observable
Disadvantages: leading questions, response options & response bias (self-presentational bias and recall bias)
Case study – in-depth analysis of one subject (or more), usually because the case is rare
Advantages: more complete and unique information & can generate new hypotheses
Disadvantages: cannot generalize & cannot infer causation
Observational – describe and measure people’s and/or animals’ behavior systematically
Advantage: rich description of behaviors
Disadvantages: cannot infer causation, people behave differently when being watched & observer bias
Archival – use of existing data sources
Advantage: fast access to large amount of data
Disadvantage: cannot ask questions researcher wants to ask & cannot infer causation
9. What is correlational research? Does correlation indicate causation? What are some alternative explanations (e.g.,
third variable)?
Correlation – an association between 2 variables & measure of the strength of the association between two
variables
Correlations does not indicate causation
Alternative explanations:
Third variable – C could be causing both A and B making it seem that A causes B
10. How are correlation coefficients (e.g., r = -0.4) interpreted? What are positive and negative correlations?
Correlation coefficients range from -1.00 to +1.00
Positive correlation – variables change in the same direction
Negative correlation – variables change in opposite directions
11. What is an experiment (randomized clinical trial or randomized controlled trial)?
Manipulation of the IV how does this influence the DV
12. What are IVs and DVs?
IV – independent variable
DV – dependent variable
13. What are treatment (experimental) and control groups?
Treatment (experimental) – group that has been manipulated
Control (comparison) – group that has not been manipulated in order to compare the treatment group
14. What is random assignment?
15. What is experimental control?
16. What are moderators?
Variable that changes the magnitude and/or direction of the relation between the IV and DV
17. What are mediators?
Variable through which the IV affects the DV
18. What is quasi-experimental design?
No random assignment
non-experimental (i.e., the researcher does not assign participants to condition) - the participants are already in the
condition. For example, quasi-experimental design could be used to compare the health outcomes of people who
are divorced and people who are still married - they are not assigned to those groups, but they already exist in
those groups.
19. What conditions must be met for causality to be tentatively assumed in quasi-experimental design (e.g., temporal
priority)?
For causality to be tentatively assumed:
Compare pre-existing groups
Temporal priority
Dose to response relationship
Consistent with existing knowledge
Consistent in different populations
Animal analogs
Intervention has an effect
20. What are artifacts (e.g., measurement)?
Artifacts – finding due to the research design, but attributed to reality
Example: measurement & sample selection bias
Exam 1 Study Guide
Introduction
1. What is health?
Absence of disease
Ability to physically perform daily functions
2. What is the biomedical model? How does it explain health? What are its characteristics?
Biomedical Model – all illness can be explained on the basis of abnormal somatic processes
Unable to fully account for health – only physical problem can be identified
Focus on physical factors that affect diseases
• Mechanistic – focus on specific parts
• Reductionistic – reduces illness to low-level processes
• Dualistic – views psychological health as separate from physical health
3. What is the biopsychosocial model? How does it explain health?
Health is more than just biological factors (biomedical model) – biopsychosocial model adds psychological and
social factors
Focuses more on health and health promotion/prevention
Health is influenced by:
Biological factors
Psychological factors – thoughts, behaviors
Social factors – relationships with people and people who provide medical care to us
4. How have the major health problems in the U.S. changed since the beginning of the 20th century?
Major causes of death:
Acute infectious diseases
Chronic Conditions
5. How significant is the role of health behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, poor diet/physical inactivity) in current major
health problems in the U.S.?
Tobacco – 15%
Poor diet/physical inactivity – 18%
Alcohol consumption – 3%
Microbial agents – 2%
Medical error – 3%
Toxic agents – 2.5%
Motor vehicle – 1%
Firearms – 1.5%
Sexual behavior – 1%
Illicit drug use – 1%
Other – 51.8%
Research Methods
6. What are operational definitions?
Statement about the procedures the researcher used to measure a variable (to measure and manipulate a variable)
7. What is ecological validity? What are mundane and experimental realism?
Ecological validity - the extent to which the findings of a research study are able to be generalized to real-life
settings
Mundane realism – closeness of experimental situation to real life
how much the situation in the lab relates to situations that would happen in real life
Experimental realism – extent to which experimental situation involves and engages participants
Actually experience what the study is trying to
Both are trade-offs
High mundane realism, low experimental realism
Hard to create a completely controlled environment that also occurs in real life
8. What are the survey, case study, observational, and archival methods? What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each (e.g., response options)?
, Survey – asking people questions about their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions
Advantages: efficient & can measure constructs that are not directly observable
Disadvantages: leading questions, response options & response bias (self-presentational bias and recall bias)
Case study – in-depth analysis of one subject (or more), usually because the case is rare
Advantages: more complete and unique information & can generate new hypotheses
Disadvantages: cannot generalize & cannot infer causation
Observational – describe and measure people’s and/or animals’ behavior systematically
Advantage: rich description of behaviors
Disadvantages: cannot infer causation, people behave differently when being watched & observer bias
Archival – use of existing data sources
Advantage: fast access to large amount of data
Disadvantage: cannot ask questions researcher wants to ask & cannot infer causation
9. What is correlational research? Does correlation indicate causation? What are some alternative explanations (e.g.,
third variable)?
Correlation – an association between 2 variables & measure of the strength of the association between two
variables
Correlations does not indicate causation
Alternative explanations:
Third variable – C could be causing both A and B making it seem that A causes B
10. How are correlation coefficients (e.g., r = -0.4) interpreted? What are positive and negative correlations?
Correlation coefficients range from -1.00 to +1.00
Positive correlation – variables change in the same direction
Negative correlation – variables change in opposite directions
11. What is an experiment (randomized clinical trial or randomized controlled trial)?
Manipulation of the IV how does this influence the DV
12. What are IVs and DVs?
IV – independent variable
DV – dependent variable
13. What are treatment (experimental) and control groups?
Treatment (experimental) – group that has been manipulated
Control (comparison) – group that has not been manipulated in order to compare the treatment group
14. What is random assignment?
15. What is experimental control?
16. What are moderators?
Variable that changes the magnitude and/or direction of the relation between the IV and DV
17. What are mediators?
Variable through which the IV affects the DV
18. What is quasi-experimental design?
No random assignment
non-experimental (i.e., the researcher does not assign participants to condition) - the participants are already in the
condition. For example, quasi-experimental design could be used to compare the health outcomes of people who
are divorced and people who are still married - they are not assigned to those groups, but they already exist in
those groups.
19. What conditions must be met for causality to be tentatively assumed in quasi-experimental design (e.g., temporal
priority)?
For causality to be tentatively assumed:
Compare pre-existing groups
Temporal priority
Dose to response relationship
Consistent with existing knowledge
Consistent in different populations
Animal analogs
Intervention has an effect
20. What are artifacts (e.g., measurement)?
Artifacts – finding due to the research design, but attributed to reality
Example: measurement & sample selection bias
